Green Bay Packers’ offense finally turns on the jets

~Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers’ offense wasn’t exactly missing in action over the first eight games of the season.

But it couldn’t be defined as prolific, either, and a lot of people were wondering when quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his receivers would start clicking.

On Sunday night, the clicking started and never stopped, turning into a drumbeat of efficiency in a 45-7 victory over the downtrodden Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field.

Rodgers completed 27 of 34 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns and receivers Greg Jennings and James Jones embarrassed the Cowboys secondary by combining for 15 catches, 203 yards and two touchdowns.

Screen passes. Blitz-beaters. Slants. Touch passes down the sideline. Bullets over the middle.

Whatever Rodgers threw seemed to wind up in the hands of one of the Packers.”When everything is clicking,” said receiver Jordy Nelson, “that’s what it looks like.”

"He is a great quarterback," said Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick. "He is definitely one of the best quarterbacks I have ever played against. He is one of the best quarterbacks in the league."

With Donald Driver sitting this one out with a nagging thigh injury, the Packers needed someone to step up. Instead, the entire offense stepped up, producing 31 points and 415 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per play and converting 10 of 15 third downs (67%).

“I think we made some progress,” said offensive coordinator Joe Philbin. “When we met as an offense we didn’t talk about needing to score 31 points, but we did talk about the need to move the chains and make first downs.”

It all started with Rodgers, whose 79.5% completion percentage was his best of the season. In his last four games he had completed 58.7%, 54.5%, 61.8% and, last week, a career-low 44.1%.

Rodgers also rushed for 41 yards.

“He is a great quarterback,” said Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick. “He is definitely one of the best quarterbacks I have ever played against. He is one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

“I have a lot of respect for the guy. He is elusive and can move around great. He has pinpoint accuracy. He is a great player and a great leader of his team.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the Packers exploded for 28 points in the second quarter to take a 28-7 halftime lead. Green Bay converted 7 of 8 third downs (88%) and Rodgers was 16 for 18 for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think we had a good game plan,” the quarterback said. “We just got into a flow early. I think I haven’t played this kind of game really this season yet. I’m playing the way I feel like I’m capable of playing. It was nice to play better.”

It didn’t hurt Rodgers that his receivers consistently won their one-on-one battles and ran hard after the catch. The Cowboys (1-7), who have lost five in a row and have dropped their last two by a combined 56 points, were groping for answers.

“We played poorly in pass defense,” said coach Wade Phillips. “I don’t know what’s happening. If I had the answer we would have done something sooner, but we just haven’t played well on pass defense.

“We haven’t been able to play man-to-man very well, giving up big plays. When we play zone, they hit us on everything.”

With Driver out, the receivers talked about stepping up and making plays and Jones turned in a big-time performance, catching a career-high eight passes for 123 yards (15.4 average) and one touchdown.

He had catches of 22 and 31 yards on consecutive plays in the second quarter, setting up Brandon Jackson’s 2-yard run that gave the Packers a 14-0 lead.

“I thought James played very well,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “We had a number of players that had a lot more opportunities than they had in the past, James in particular. He did very good in yards after the catch…….I thought James Jones played big tonight.”